A Morning for Flamingoes: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

Dave Robicheaux felt the bone-grinding pain rip through his body as the .45 did its damage. Through the agonizing haze that enveloped him, he heard an almost inhuman laugh - the hideous, victorious cackling of Jimmie Lee Boggs - a sound he would never forget. It had started out as an ordinary prisoner transfer, then turned into a blood bath when the convicted murderer got hold of a gun.

A Stained White Radiance: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 5

Cajun police detective Dave Robicheaux knows the Sonnier family of New Iberia - their connections to the CIA, the mob, and to a former Klansman now running for state office. And he knows their past - as dark and murky as a night on the Louisiana bayou. An assassination attempt and the death of a cop draw Robicheaux into the Sonniers' dangerous web of madness, murder and incest. But Robicheaux has devils of his own. And they've come out of hiding to destroy the tormented investigator - and the people he holds most dear.

The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series. In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute's corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker.

In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 6

The image of the dead girl's body lingered in detective Dave Robicheaux's mind as he drove home. After seeing the young victim's corpse, the last thing he needed to come across was a drunk driver. But when he saw the Cadillac fishtail across the road, Robicheaux knew the driver was in trouble. What Dave didn't realize, was that by pulling the car over, he was opening his murder case wider than he could imagine. The driver, Elrod Sykes, in New Iberia to star in a movie, leads Dave to the remains of a black man that had washed up in the Atchafalaya swamp.

Dixie City Jam: A Dave Roubicheaux Novel, Book 7

They're out there, under the salt - the bodies of German seamen who used to lie in wait at the mouth of the Mississippi for unescorted American tankers sailing from the oil refineries of Baton Rouge out into the Gulf of Mexico. As a child, Dave Robicheaux had been haunted by the sailors' images. Years later, Robicheaux, a detective with the New Iberia sheriff's office, finds himself and his family at serious risk, stalked for his knowledge of a watery burial ground by a mysterious man named Will Buchalter - a man who believes that the Holocaust was one big hoax.

Burning Angel: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 8

Detective Dave Robicheaux becomes entangled in the affairs of the Fontenot family, descendants of sharecroppers whose matriarch helped raise Dave as a child. They are in danger of losing the land they've lived on for more than a century. As Dave tries to discover who wants the land so badly, he finds himself in increasing peril from a lethal, rag tag alliance of local mobsters and a hired assassin with a shady past.

Cadillac Jukebox: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 9

When former Klansman and piney-woods outcast Aaron Crown is finally imprisoned for a decades-old murder, it is to Detective Dave Robicheaux that he proclaims his innocence loudest. Crown seems to be a lightning rod for every kind of trouble that the state of Louisiana can unearth. A documentary film writer seeking to prove Crown's innocence is found murdered; a button man for the New Orleans mob accuses Robicheaux of taking a pay-off to ignore Crown.

But it is when Buford LaRose -- scion of an old Southern family and author of a book on the Crown case -- is elected governor that Dave Robicheaux's involvement with Aaron Crown deepens to a level he can barely fathom. And it is Buford's social-climbing wife, Karyn, with whom Robicheaux had an affair years before, who proves to be his most poisonous adversary.

Sunset Limited: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 10

The 40-year-old crucifixion of a prominent labor leader named Jack Flynn remains an unsolved atrocity that has never been forgotten in New Iberia, Louisiana. When Flynn's daughter, Megan, returns to the site of her father's murder, it quickly becomes clear that her family's blood-stained past will not stay buried. Megan gives her old friend Dave Robicheaux a tip about a small-time criminal named Cool Breeze Broussard, scarcely suspecting that the seemingly innocuous case will lead Robicheaux and his partner into the midst of a deadly conspiracy.

Jolie Blon's Bounce

Return to James Lee Burke's "timeless, parallel universe" with detective Dave Robicheaux, as he investigates the murders of two women, tries to prove one man's innocence, and faces an enemy unlike any he has ever known. Gothic, dense, brutal, touching, and always compelling, Jolie Blon's Bounce is classic storytelling from a writer who has been dubbed "the Faulkner of crime fiction."

Silent Joe

Joe Trona is scarred in more ways than one. Rescued from an orphanage by Will Trona, a charismatic Orange County politician who sensed his dark potential, Joe is swept into the maelstrom of power and intimidation that surrounds his adoptive father's illustrious career. Serving as Will's right hand man, Joe is trained to protect and defend his father's territory - but he can't save the powerful man from his enemies.

Bootlegger's Daughter

Attorney Deborah Knott is North Carolina's answer to V.I. Warshawski, a legal sleuth with a knack for sniffing out the most baffling crimes. Deborah has just done the unthinkable: entered the heated race for judge of old-boy-ruled Colleton County. The only female candidate, she's busy reeling in voters and giving campaign speeches. There couldn't be a worse time for Gayle Whitehead to beg Deborah to investigate the 18-year-old unsolved murder of Gayle's mother, Janie.

Line of Vision

Marty Kalish is a young man suffocating in the heat of an affair with a married woman named Rachel. When Rachel's husband disappears one night, Marty is one of the first to be questioned. With few likely suspects, the police arrest him for murder. We want him to be innocent, but the more he tells us, the more we fear he is guilty. And as the twists and turns of the plot unfold, we can't be completely sure.

Purple Cane Road: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 11

Dave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the age-old adage that the sins of the father pass on to the son. But what was his mother's legacy? Dead to him since his youth, Mae Guillory has been shuttered away in the deep recesses of Robicheaux's mind. While helping out an old friend, Dave is stunned when a pimp looks at him sideways and asks if he is the son of Mae Guillory, the whore a bunch of cops murdered 30 years ago. Her body was dumped in the bayou bordering Purple Cane Road, and the cops who left her there are still on the job.

Pegasus Descending

A troubled young woman breezes into Detective Robicheaux's hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. She happens to be the daughter of his friend: a friend he witnessed gunned down in a bank robbery, a tragedy that forever changed Robicheaux's life.

Swan Peak: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

Swan Peak finds Detective Robicheaux far from his New Iberia roots, attempting to relax in the untouched wilderness of rural Montana. He, his wife, and his buddy Clete Purcell have retreated to stay at an old friend's ranch, hoping to spend their days fishing and enjoying their distance from the harsh, gritty landscape of Louisiana post-Katrina.

The Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

Dave Robicheaux returns in another Bayou adventure, this one more gruesome and gut-wrenching than any that have come before. Hurricane Katrina has ravaged New Orleans, leaving the streets and buildings flooded and the city awash with opportunists, looters, and vicious criminals. There is no order, no law. Police are shooting randomly at innocent people, prison guards have abandoned their posts, and bodies float through the streets and hang from trees.

Creole Belle: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 19

Creole Belle begins where the last book in the Dave Robicheaux series, The Glass Rainbow, ended. Dave is in a recovery unit in New Orleans, where a Creole girl named Tee Jolie Melton visits him and leaves him an iPod with the country blues song “Creole Belle” on it. Then she disappears. Dave becomes obsessed with the song and the memory of Tee Jolie and goes in search of her sister, who later turns up inside a block of ice floating in the Gulf.

Blind Faith

After the deranged lunatic who murdered Sarah Durandt’s husband and son is executed, Sarah returns to her home in the Adirondacks in hopes of achieving some measure of closure. But once there, Sarah is forced to face a nightmarish possibility. The wrong man may have been sent to his death, and the killer of her loved ones may be hunting for a new victim.

The Cold Room: Taylor Jackson Series

Homicide detective Taylor Jackson thinks she's seen it all in Nashville—from the Southern Strangler to the Snow White Killer. But she's never seen anything as perverse as The Conductor. Once his victim is captured, he contains her in a glass coffin, slowly starving her to death. Only then does he give in to his attraction.

Light of the World: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 20

In Light of the World, sadist and serial killer Asa Surrette narrowly escaped the death penalty for the string of heinous murders. But following a series of damning articles written by Dave Robicheaux’s daughter Alafair about possible other crimes committed by Surette, the killer escapes from a prison transport van and heads to Montana - where an unsuspecting Dave happens to have gone to take in the sweet summer air, accompanied by Alafair, his wife Molly, faithful partner Clete, and Clete’s newfound daughter, Gretchen Horowitz.

Voice of the Violin: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery

Montalbano's gruesome discovery of a lovely, naked young woman suffocated in her bed immediately sets him on a search for her killer. Among the suspects are her aging husband, a famous doctor; a shy admirer, now disappeared; an antiques-dealing lover from Bologna; and the victim's friend Anna.

I have been a very keen reader of James Lee Burke's books for quite a long time and have enjoyed them all.I recently listened to The Tin Roof Blowdown and thought that was excellent.This book is even better,Will Paton was a fine narrator in " Blowdown " but Mark Hammer is in a class of his own here. This is a fabulous audio book and I thoroughly recommend it to all.

For me this is one fine piece of 'storytelling. I loved it. My first contact with James Lee Burke through Black Cherry Blues, will be the first of many more. I love having a story read to me, and the reader is reading to me. It became a personal experience.. I have yet to learn if it is J L Burke's style of writing. . Engaged from start to finish with Black Cherry Blues, I look forward to either listening to or reading much more from Mr Burke.

I have yet to find a Burke novel in the Dave Robicheaux series that I haven't liked, with the exception of Jolie Blon's Bounce narrated by Mark Hammer. In that case, it wasn't the novel I disliked but the narrator. Since then I have pretty well stuck with Will Patton's narrations which are always a good listen. However, a previous review of this book favorably rated Mark Hammer and I took a chance. Hammer did a superb job on this one. Because he did so well, I downloaded A Morning for Flamingos, also narrated by Hammer. I was very pleased with that narration also. So, if you have listened to all the Will Patton versions and want to expand your horizons, try this one out. You won't be disappointed.

This was the first Robicheaux novel I read, and I had a little trouble catching up with some of the back story. Burke spends too much time on some parts of it, and not enough on others, so that you have an incomplete idea of the emotional relationships with some characters.

Aside from that, it's a good listen. It is set mostly outside of south Louisiana, so Burke gets to write about a place and people he hasn't overdescribed, so there is a freshness to the story. The central mystery is engaging, and to me there seemed to be a wider range of character types than in some of his works.

Good serial detective novel, well written, not overly complex but not shallow, either.

Mark Hammer narrates this, and some reviews on this and other books really take him to task. I like him, with a few exceptions. He has the slow pacing of a southerner (even though he doesn't seem to be from the south) and doesn't rush through the book. Some of his readings are weaker than others, but this seems to be one of his stronger ones.

Good Robicheaux, but probably not the best one to introduce a newcomer to the series.

Burke's work fits together like a totally fine watch... Emphasis on the "fine". This is not just a good story. Not just a character study. Not just a virtually great southern novel. It is hauntingly beautiful. You will do yourself a great favor by letting pitch-perfect Mark Hammer reveal the voices that Burke imagined. Yup.... I reeeeeeely liked it.

I have a spotted history with James Lee Burke. I started listening to this series purely because Will Patton read them. I ended up all over the place in Dave Robicheaux's life. I loved each of those books, really enjoyed them. I chose this book because I thought it would be fun to start from the beginning. Now I don't know if I'll go on to book two. It was a real struggle to get through this book, it felt like a chore instead of a joy. The most awful part of the book was whenever the narrator was speaking for a Cajun person or Dave's foster daughter. When Dave drove to Montana I was grateful that at least his Cajun staff wouldn't have speaking parts any longer.

I'll probably try book two when it's been long enough that I forget how much I struggled through this one. Hopefully Burke's writing and Hammer's narration improve quickly.

Kudos to narrator, Mark Hammer, for taking a great book and making it better with his thoughtful pacing, accent, and inflection. He makes this book sing. And Mr. Burke is on top of his form. His capacity to use the natural environment as an omnipresent counterpoint to an intriguing plot stands out. Burke's dialogue is masterful even as it serves to reveal characters of substance. Readers of this genre will not go wrong with this one.The quality of the writing sets a high bar for his contemporaries....thoroughly enjoyed it.

James Lee Burke weaves a story that is great for the ears. I really enjoy his style and vocabulary. It is like listening to a cajun Faulkner. His story lines may not be for everyone but he has a knack at painting pictures in your mind with his words. The setting is from Dave's earlier life.

James Lee Burke has an uncanny way of making you see the scenes he describes in poetic depth. He understands the complexity of human character and has a loving way of seeing all humans through the eyes of compassion. He is not a stranger to human suffering, vengefulness, hatred, passion or greed. The reader is to be commended on his touching reading, especially when he refers to Alifair as "little guy".

James Lee Burke was recommended to me recently as the 'most brilliant rendering of the deep south USA'. Actually, this did not make me rush to try his work because it made me assume, incorrectly, that crime novels of this location must necessarily be about the bleak past of the southern states. In fact, history and politics are worn lightly in this novel, in which the characters have their own strong morality, carefully drawn characters, specific histories and are deeply engaging. I cared deeply about Dave, Batista and everyone in their quasi family by the close of the novel, and the plot was outstanding: unpredictable, convincing and sustained. To start with, I found Hammer's very slow reading pace a struggle, but once this became the sounds of the scenery, the bayou, the boats, then it became very rhythmic and natural. Hammer's pace actually changed a lot, particularly at moments of high tension or action, but if you are a fan of Mankell or Nesbo's atmospheric north, then give Burke's south, and Hammer's accents, a try. I tend not to write reviews about mediocre works - saving them for the books I really loved, or really cannot leave behind. I will definitely be listening now to the rest of the Robichaux series. I NEED to know what happens next in their lives...

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

jellyman

3/17/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"it's burke and streak but it's not patton reading"

awesome book and hammer is a great narrator.... but he's not will patton and i have patton's voice in my head for all the characters.... saying that i think he captures dixie lee perfectly and you have to listen/read this book to understand how clete and dave get back together after the climactic scene in neon rain that ends with, "don't ever call me par'ner again".... so all in all 5 out 5 for the story but 4 out of 5 for the whole caboodle... but if I'd never heard will patton read burke it would have been a 5 out of 5 anyways..... it's all copacetic!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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